I get the bug (so to speak) about twice a year to really tidy up the studio. This involves a lot of vacumning as the ladybugs, spiders, and stink bugs are quite attracted to my sunny workspace during the cooler months.

Although it only took me a couple of hours to tidy up, I couldn’t help but question if it was a productive use of the one day a week I get to work in my studio. I did manage to finish up a commission for the amazing Judie and ship out a few other packages, but one day a week is not much time for the creative muse to bring my metal dreams to life.

While cleaning my studio, I thought about John R., a jewelry store owner who I interned with while in college. John’s shop was messy, messy, messy! Crusted white flux and acid spills blossoming like fractals from every surface of his workbench, dirt, dust, polishing grime floating in the air, hand tools strewn about. I was amazed that he could find anything in his shop. But he did.

When I asked him how he could work in such a messy space, he told me a story about one of his jeweler friends. The friend’s shop was always immaculate, everything had it’s place, the shop vac ran daily. But the friend spent so much time keeping the shop clean that it left him with little time to work on commissions. Before long, the friend’s shop went out of business. John’s shop may have been messy, but he always had customers coming and going.

In the words of Dr. Seuss, “life is a great balancing act.” You’ve got to keep your studio clean (your lungs will thank you), but know when it’s time to put the vacumn away and pull out your favorite hammer!

(And, yes, I am very aware of my dorkiness unveiled in this self portrait).

Welcome HOME, cows! I look out my bedroom window and see a field of cows in our backyard. This is one of the first indications that warm weather is finally here. For some of the herd, our land is their vacation home, where they come to summer and enjoy 10 acres of fresh, sweet grass during the warm months.

In addition to the assurance the cows give that we won’t ever have to mow at least 10 acres of grass, I find it comforting to coexist with these massive, sentient creatures. They spend most of their hours, heads bent, mouths munching, ambling along, in one end, out the other. They are very efficient at what they do. EATTING. Oftentimes they tolerate me enough to hand-feed them wildflowers plucked from our yard. This, I do through the electric fence that divides our territories. OUR turf. COWS’ turf.

IT IS AMAZING HOW QUICKLY A CALF LEARNS TO STAND. FULL OF VIM AND VIGOR ALREADY, THIS LITTLE GUY WAS BORN ONLY A WEEK AGO.

I SWEAR HE IS GIVING ME THE STINK EYE. DON’T WORRY, LITTLE GUY, I WON’T EAT YOU OR YOUR FAMILY. MY DIET HAS BEEN MAMMAL-FREE FOR OVER A DECADE.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE COWS IS “BIG RED”. SHE STANDS OUT FROM THE HERD (for obvious reasons) AND BECAUSE SHE IS SUCH A NURTURER. WHEN “BIG RED” IS NOT MOTHERING HER OWN CALVES, SHE IS ASSISTING YOUNGER MOTHER COWS WITH THE REARING AND NURSING OF THEIR CALVES. SHE IS A GENTLE SOUL.

We are so blessed to have this land to share with our friends and our friend’s cows. Very blessed, indeedy.

On Friday, May 1, art6 gallery will host the opening of Defiant Silence, Never Forget!, contemporary reactions to the Holocaust through art. Curated by art6 member David Turner, Defiant Silence, Never Forget! will bring together artists of all genres from Virginia and around the world, including works by Joe Riley and Istvan Horkay from Hungary.

Curator’s statement: Sixty-three years ago the Auschwitz death camp was liberated and the full horror of the Holocaust was revealed. Sixty-four years later the Holocaust fades from horror to history to myth. For our children born to the relative quiet of a world absent lethal antisemitism the Holocaust has become an event relegated to the Jewish calendar alongside Tisha b’Av, that reminder of the destruction of the temples in Jerusalem. art6 gallery’s Yom Hashoah, Richmond 2009 will bring to life through art a contemporary acknowledgement and recognition of this latest major tragedy in Jewry’s Diaspora experience, Shoah. Defiant Silence, Never Forget! is dedicated to the memory of our murdered six million and to our 13 million who survived this nearly successful effort to eradicate all Jewish existence from the world. But mostly it is meant to serve as a living memory for our children, and for theirs.

Also at art6, on Saturday, May 2, from 8:30 to 10 p.m., Slash Coleman will premiere his new Shoah period play Bonjour Israel. This event is free and open to the public.

On Saturday, May 9, in two performances from 6 to 7 p.m. and from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., Slash Coleman will perform his highly acclaimed “matzo ball” monologue. Admission is $15 ($10 for students), with proceeds to benefit art6 gallery and the Virginia Holocaust Museum.

The gallery exhibition runs through Sunday, May 24. For more information, contact art6gallery@gmail.com or visit art6.org. art6 is a member-run, non-profit art gallery dedicated to promoting and showcasing quality contemporary visual and performing arts, and offering opportunities for education.

In celebration of Earth Day on April 22, my newest jewelry line, the “Captured Collection” is marked 10% off for the entire month of April!!! Please visit my Etsy Shop to see the latest additions to the “Captured Collection” that include dried rose petals in deep red and springy yellow!

If you are in the area, I hope you will come visit my booth at one of these upcoming shows:

Richmond, VA

Fool for Art at John Tyler Community College
Saturday, April 18, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
http://www.jtcc.edu/foolforart/

Annapolis, MD

First Sunday Arts Festival on West Street
Sundays – May 3, June 7, July 5, and August 2
12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.
http://www.goweststreet.com/

Bethesda, MD

Bethesda Artist Market – in Bethesda Place Plaza
(Corner of Old Georgetown Road and Woodmont Ave.)
Saturdays – June 13, July 11, and October 10
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
http://www.bethesda.org/arts/artistmarket.htm

Hope you are having a hippity-hoppity Spring and a Happy Easter!

- Ann

Yep, that’s me! I am Pixe’s Pick for April 2, 2009. Author of Pixe’s Treasure Chest, Mich, selects her featured picks from the artists of Etsy. From woodcraft to quilts or handmade jewelry to recycled totes, you just never know what you are going to find in the Treasure Chest! Always a fun read. Stop by and check out my interview! Thank you, Mich, for the feature!

On Friday, April 3, art6 gallery will host the opening of the Regional Biennial Juried High School Art Competition. Coordinated by gallery member, Mitzi Humphrey, the exhibition will feature the work of current high school juniors and seniors working in all media. This is an opportunity for these students to exhibit work in a professional gallery setting, and cash prizes will be awarded.

This year’s juror is artist Eugene Vango, who will make the final selection for the exhibition and present first, second and third place awards. Vango is a painter and studied at the Art Students League of New York. He received his M.F.A. from Penn State and was chair of the art department of Virginia State University for many years. Vango has exhibited widely and is a popular judge for student and professional shows.

The exhibition runs through Sunday, April 26. For more information, contact art6gallery@gmail.com or visit art6.org.

art6 is a member-run, non-profit art gallery dedicated to promoting and showcasing quality contemporary, visual and performing arts, and offering opportunities for education.

I discovered Virginia’s motto, “Virginia is for Lovers,” to be quite true, in fact. On January 21, 2009, while sitting by the fireplace in our 100-year old farmhouse, my boyfriend of 3.5 years, asked me to marry him!

Michael and I met in May of 2005 when I decided to relocate from my hometown of St. Louis, MO to Richmond, VA. I was interested in pursuing my MFA degree and, although I had applied for the graduate program at VCU in Richmond, I hadn’t been accepted. The strange thing is that, although I was accepted into two other graduate programs (CSU and SCAD), a string of ‘meaningful coincidences’ left me with an overwhelming desire to move to Richmond instead.

I decided to move to Richmond to take undergrad classes at VCU and reapply for the graduate program later. So I contacted the then-head of the metals department, Jim Meyer, and arranged to fly to Richmond to meet with him. I was only in town for a day and a half and had to, not only set-up classes with VCU, but also, to find (and sign a lease for) the place where I would live when I moved half-way across the country.

As fate would have it, the day I met with Jim Meyer at VCU also happened to be the day of the Genesis Design competition held for VCU’s metal/jewelry students at Schwartzchild Jewelers. Jim invited me to the opening and it was there that I met Michael.

Six weeks later, I loaded all of my possessions into a medium-sized U-Haul truck, and with the help of my brother, I made the cross-country trek to Virginia. Michael and I had talked on the phone and emailed almost daily during those six weeks after we met, so when I finally arrived in Richmond at my new apartment, he was there waiting to help me carry my belongings up three flights of stairs in the mid-summer heat.

I am truly blessed to have met my life partner. And I must say, from my perspective, Virginia has definitely lived up to it’s motto: “Virginia is For Lovers.”

Here’s a pic of our wedding rings - one of a kind pieces, designed by C. James (Jim) Meyer himself.

We are getting married in Virginia on May 22, 2010!

♥♥♥MARCH SPECIAL♥♥♥

The entire “CrAzY WiReBaLl CoLlEcTiOn” is marked 15% off in honor of Spring!

The Crazy WireBall Earrings have been one of my best sellers for ten years strong. They are simple and elegant, versatile and unique. Earrings come in Gold, Gold/Silver, Silver, on Posts, with Wires, and now with Hoops, too! So don’t miss out.

Special runs March 20 until March 31.